SmallTown Superhero
by KimDavenport
Summary: Superhero, power figure, role model. But this flawless image of goodness only appeared in the books a couple of years ago. Her life before that is shrouded mystery...A slave. A villain. Fighting against the very people she now finds herself teamed with. AU after Rise of the Secret Soldiers, and continuing through MM and EF. S-1's rebirth into what she always wanted; a hero.
1. A New Kind of Soldier

**Hey guys! So this is a story I started a while back and decided to finish up now! It starts when Krane is first building his army, and continues through Rise of the Secret Soldiers in Lab Rats, Mighty Med, and finally, all comes together somewhere in the middle of Elite Force.**

 **Basically, my thought process with this story was; what really happens to S-1 after the attack in Rise of the Secret Soldiers? I know she comes back as Taylor in Lab Rats, but that's not where my story takes her, so it's kind of AU I guess from that point on. Instead, she has a whole different adventure which turns her into an entire different person, and leads her to bringing the two shows together long before this crossover even begins...well, you should see it all come together as you keep reading.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Kim**

* * *

In the middle of a dark globe, in the middle of a calm country, in the middle of a sparse town, stood a lonely little house.

It seemed like a perfectly ordinary house. To anyone that passed, it was dainty. Quaint even.

To everyone who lived in the little town, however, it was a mysterious and abstruse house. Passing photographers would often stop to snap a picture of this majestic sight. Cinematographers and Directors on a family vacation would often pause to speculate what a perfect setting the lovely little house would make for a drama.

Many seriously considered using it as the backdrop for one of their newest creations.

But no one ever did.

It wasn't that the house was intimidating, or scary, or daunting in any way.

It was just that you didn't ever approach it farther then the front walk.

That was just it; it wasn't done. Something about it did not feel right.

The townsfolk had become accustomed to the single battered blue car, which stood outside the little house. It never moved, was never cleaned, or waxed, or attended to in any way. Over the years, it had become a well-used analogy by the menfolk of the suburb.

"Indeed, I do declare my wife has become the dig's buggy!" exclaimed a drunkard one night to his friend. Yes indeed, the man had not even referred to the car as belonging to the person residing in the small townhouse; he had spoken as though the house itself had possession the car.

It was this way with everyone. It was the house's walk, the house's garden, the house's porch, and the house's 'buggy'. The little house held complete ownership of anything located on its property. No one, not a single being throughout the entire town, had ever met or heard from the person whom was claimed by the house as its' resident.

Now the town itself was small in size, and big in talk. Everyone knew what old Ms. Thomson thought about Mrs. Smith's new flowerbed. Everyone knew that Mr. Jones and Mr. Greerty had been best friends since high school football.

Everyone knew that the Johnson's little girl, Stephanie, was soon to be married. And new gossip about the Hendersons, a snooty upper-class family, was coming in every day.

"Have you heard about the Seabrook's son?" was a common way of starting a conversation.

"Don't offend Miss Johnson's pie, she's touchy about her cooking," might very well be the first words of welcome you would hear in that little town.

The children mimicked their parents throughout the day. "You'll never guess what Jessica did!" had become a tune to jump rope too. While the aforementioned girl pulled herself away from her newest male figure long enough to scowl at the offenders.

No story was of to insignificance, no incident to small, and no account too far-fetched to be relayed amongst these residents as 'facts'.

A general unspoken rule was; you could say whatever you wanted, spread whatever tale you wished, as long as for the life of you, you did not bore your audience!

So as it can be assumed, it was of great excitement to the people of the little town when one evening, a second car pulled into the house's driveway.

Little Maggie had been the first person to witness the dark-colored station wagon pull up to the house.

She made her way through town, first alerting the ice-cream man, then the grocer, and finally Old Ben the farmer, who was known for his awing sharp-cheddar sandwiches.

Within the hour, the entire town had been alerted of the incident. And the single man and two women that Maggie had seen had grown to three burly men, a suspicious-looking Russian woman, and a young hottie. This final add-on had been the idea of a rather plastered Mr. Smith, who's wife quickly silenced him by knocking him over the back of the head with her purse.

"Did you hear about that damn Russian spy?" inquired the baker of his newest customer. "Story says she's working with her 'complises on some new fancy bomb to blow us all to kingdom-come!"

"I heard she's a relation of the Rosenbergs," whispered a housewife to her neighbor.

"They must have an lab basement in the bottom of that house," gossiped a young boy to his sister. "They're probably making a poisonous explosive to attack with and kill us all!"

"Stop!" shouted the little girl, covering her ears and running about the yard while her brother chased her, making explosive noises with his mouth.

"Did ya hear of those three muscly body guards the spy's got guarding her?" asked a patron sitting at the bar.

"Did you hear of her car?" asked the bartender. "I heard it had bullet-proof plating!"

"Did you hear of that little angel she brought with her?" asked Mr. Smith in slurred words while his wife jabbed at him with the heel of her shoe. "There's a little slice of the Heaven above if I've ever heard of one!"

Let us just be thankful that little Maggie had not been able to see the single man's face, or the theories would have become dangerously ludicrous, putting the house in risk of being raided by a very angry, and very drunk mob-for it was a Friday night after all—perhaps accompanied by flaming pitchforks.

However, back at the door of the house, the Russian spy shrunk to a very fastidious, critical, and lavishly dressed woman. Mr. Smith's 'hottie slice from Heaven' shrunk to a young teenage girl, and the three muscly bodyguards shrunk to a single man, with a very serious and scary-looking skin disease.

"How long is this going to take?" screeched the woman in a high-pitched, and very annoying voice. "Being in such a dingy town is making my feet hurt and getting my clothing dusty."

"Be quiet woman," snapped the man. "We'll be out of this miserable village as soon as I finish conducting my business, and no sooner!"

Just then, the dark mahogany door creaked open, crying out desperately for the need of some WD-40.

"Ahh, I am exceedingly pleased to see you could make it, Mr. Krane," welcomed a very stereotypical-looking mad scientist. He was of average height with brown hair that stuck up shockingly straight from his head. "I trust you are enjoying the sights of our little town? Be sure while you are here not to offend Miss Johnson's pie. She is very touchy about her cooking."

"Foolish talk!" shouted the man, shoving past the scientist. "I came here for a demonstration, not to chat about small-town current events. If you do not have anything prepared to interest me, then we will be leaving."

"No, no!" quickly shouted the scientist, rubbing his hands together in slow, circular movements. "I have many things for you, Mr. Krane, many things that I trust you will be most interested in. If you would please follow me..."

The spiky-haired scientist led the man down a well-hidden and very twisted stairway to an underground lab. The teenage daughter diligently followed her father, with her constantly complaining mother close behind.

"Have you ever thought that maybe if you swept this place out every once in awhile, it would decrease the amount of vermin you have attracted?" asked the mother, stepping gingerly around a rather large cobweb.

"I am afraid, dear lady, that if I was to do that it would take away from the 'evil lair' feel I have accumulated," stated the scientist, grinning sardonically. "I must say that I have achieved it quite well."

"Clearly," muttered the woman.

The scientist led his small group of potential teammates across the lab to a long table filled with a large degree of weapons; some which looked very effective, while others just looked plain silly.

"This is a new invention I have recently created," said the scientist, picking up a large gun-like thing, which was loaded with pencils. Before he could begin to explain his weapon, however, the other man cut in.

"Sir, I do not believe you fully understood my offer as it was stated to you. My eventual goal is world domination, and unless you have anything more-" the man paused to look, almost humorously, upon the other weapons set on the table. "- _directed_ to this cause, I am afraid I will have to be going."

"Wait, wait!" exclaimed the scientist nervously. "I suppose I could skip to the end of my presentation. I assure you that once you see this incredible invention, your every wish will be immediately filled!"

The potential buyer looked unconvinced.

"I give you..." spoke the scientist, quickly turning on a nearby screen, "...The world's first bionic superhumans!"

Up on the screen appeared many simulations of three teens, doing inhuman things with their bodies. Running faster then the speed of sound, lifting objects ten times their size, and moving people and animals seemingly with their minds.

"Hmm, impressiveHmmm, iHhdfhdhdhdhdhdhdHmmmmmmm." stated the buyer. The scientist's face immediately shone with happiness, as though this was the highest praise in the world.

"I told you!" He exclaimed, in a somewhat childish manner.

"Very impressive," repeated the buyer. "And yet, so very unbelievable."

The scientist's smile faded.

"How am I to know that this footage has not been manipulated in any way? How am I to know that I am not giving being caught up in a con operation?"

"Well, I suppose I could demonstrate how they work this very minute," said the scientist slowly. "Implant them into someone before your eyes? Would you believe me then?"

This suggestion seemed tempting to the buyer, so the scientist quickly continued his sales talk.

"I could implant them into one of you while you watch," he said excitedly. He looked around the room until his eyes fell on the wife, who was flicking one of her polished fingernails at an invention. "I propose her."

"What?!" screeched the woman, looking up to see the scientist looking at her in an almost hungry way. "You will do no such thing to me! I am not a lab rat for you to run experiments on!"

"The woman stays human," declared Krane, in an even and commanding voice. He then shoved his daughter forward. "You will give bionics to my daughter instead."

"What?!" cried the girl in surprise.

"An excellent suggestion!" exclaimed the scientist, advancing towards the small girl. "Bionics take better to younger bodies anyway. Their systems can hold up to it more."

"Wait, please, get away from me!" shouted the child, backing away from the menacing scientist, and running straight into her father.

Krane held the girl by her shoulders in a tight grip, glaring down at her with a steely gaze.

The scientist looked up at Krane, seeking permission with his eyes.

Krane dipped his head in a shallow nod.

"You may proceed."


	2. A Gallant Savior

**Many Months Later**

 _Hard._

That was the first thing she felt.

Why did whatever she was laying on have to be so _hard?_ And _uncomfortable_?

Her back was on a tightly-packed ground. Her legs were jammed between jagged slats of wood. Her arms and head were tangled in a prickly bush.

Up in the sky the timberwolf grey was lighting to a robin eggs blue, with a gentle ribbon of light pink decorating the eastmost part of the majestic atmosphere.

The sun slowly raised its head, gingerly lighting upon the young, and severely injured girl.

As the placid grey-ish periwinkle was enveloped by a brilliant blue, and the timid sun gained strength-forcefully casting the languishing stars out of their nighttime home in the sky-the bruised girl began to stir.

All of nature looked on in wonderment as the mangled little creature lifted herself up from her despairing position.

She seemed to be struggling with the sheer agony of using her strength at all.

Her arms shook and her entire body quaked, threatening to crumble at any second.

But she pushed through it. She ground her teeth tightly and managed to lift herself into a sitting position, then kneeling, then, finally, standing.

Huddling shakily, with her tangled hair and her face marred with dirt and blood, the young soldier was a sight to behold.

A small, shimmery object fell from one of the girl's eyes and landed in the dust, creating a small cloud of the sepia fragments, which quickly stuck to the object and buried it deep within its depths.

Cruel, filthy, wretched little things.

The girl raised her hand and swiftly disposed of a similar object from her other eye, glaring at it with distaste as she flung it to the ground.

They had tortured her every minute of her life in service. She was glad to be rid of them.

 _Her father shoved her to the ground._

" _You will do as I tell you and without compliant!"_

 _His face was turning redder by the second and she knew not to speak out at a time when his anger was at a height like this._

" _I will, I understand," she mumbled quietly, speaking directly to the floor._

" _It would do you good to remember that."_

The girl shivered as she remembered her father's chilling words. How she had hated working for him. How she had loathed getting up in the morning while she was his servant! The others had not minded it that much. Of course they wouldn't. They were under _his_ control. They were mindless zombies ready to attend to every whim and will of _him._ But she wasn't. She could think. She could _hate._ And now, she could be hated.

Skylar threw her hair back and looked all around her, trying to get a grasp of her surroundings, and why she had come here. The feeling holding her captive now was an all too familiar one. Loneliness. Abandonment. Trapped in the middle of a field with blood on her face—

Oh! Now she remembered! She had come here, not of her own doing, not of her own will, and not of her own desires. She had come here because her 'master' had commanded it. He had commanded them to fight; and to win. But they had lost, they had failed. And therefore, he had abandoned them. He was in hiding, but of course, _they_ didn't know that. _They_ of course, being, the supposed enemy. S-1 wasn't sure why she hated _them_ ; but she knew that she did. And now because they had defeated her, her master and father had both abandoned her, leaving her bruised, weakened, and alone in the middle of the field where the legendary defeat had taken place.

S-1 gingerly felt her right knee, and winced as the pain of her chipped patella reached her nervous system. How was she supposed to get anywhere like this? She could hardly walk, didn't know where she was, and had no resources to ensure her safe passage to anywhere she could make a hidden life for herself. Besides that, she didn't know what skills she had that she could use to make herself a sustainable living.

It was nearing noon, judging by the position of the now very harsh sun in the sky. The heat rays easily found their way down to the young girl sitting in the middle of the field, penetrating her jacket and surely giving her tender skin a nasty sunburn as she held her head between her injured knees, trying to think of something. She had been in this huddled position since early this morning when she finally realized that she had no idea how to help herself in this world, which presented an almost scarier front then her father had.

In was in the position that she had started her day, and it was in this pitiful position that she was found.

"Hello?"

The girl's head jolted up from her lap when she heard a strange voice calling through the warehouse field.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

This overplayed question infested Skylar with a sort of irrational fear that kept her jumpy and frozen at the same time. There was really no reason to be afraid-she highly doubted that there was anyone worse in the world then Krane had been-and _they_ were sure to have left her to her own ideals by now.

Still, some power within her body that she could not fully understand kept her frozen to the ground in fear and silence, even as a handsome young man in a red suit came out from behind one of the falling wooden structures.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay? Who are you? What happened?" A plethora of questions spurted from the striking lad as he rushed to her side, graciously offering the bruised creature his sturdy hand.

Skylar carefully observed the chivalrous figure before her. He wore a red long-sleeved shirt and pants out of some kind of armored fabric that almost looked like crocodile skin, but not quite. His chest bore a golden symbol, which she couldn't understand. His hair had a wavy and relaxed style, even though his soft face was crinkled with concern for her. His eyes were a placid brown, seeing everything with the curiosity only younger generations can posses. Something about his charismatic appearance captured Skylar directly in her throat. She would never be able to explain what precipitated her to reach for the solid hand directed to her, but something with far more power then the fear of her mind captivated her in an unmoving time, where her actions seemed effortless and her senses were numb to everything but her view of this gracious boy.

It took the creature a moment to realize the boy was talking to her.

"My name is Experion," explained the boy. Skylar did not know where her overwhelming mirth had been bottled up these past few years, but she was all to happy to let it go in a loud laugh when she heard the boy's name.

"Well, what's yours?" asked the boy, clearly offended by her outburst.

"I'm sorry," cough Skylar, quickly regaining control. "I'm Skylar."

The boy was very interested in listening to her explain her situation, and adequately alarmed when he understood her plight.

Once she had relived herself of her extensive worries, Skylar asked him to tell her a bit about himself.

"I come from a planet far from here named Caldara. If you want, you could come with me. You could live on Caldara, and escape your treacherous life here."

Another bubbling feeling of laughter was just beginning to surface when Skylar heard the name of his home planet, and when she realized he actually believed that he lived on a planet other then Earth. She eventually came to terms with the fact that he really did come from a different planet, (which really wasn't that hard, considering all the other ridicules occurrences she had observed and experienced in her life), and was overjoyed by his proposition. She was nearly in tears of gratitude as he scooped her up from her crumpled state and carried her away from the life she had always hated.

And so, this is how the mangled creature and gallant savior began their new life together.


	3. Chapter 3

" _What are you thinking? You can't keep her here!"_

" _I didn't have anywhere else to bring her. This is our home, Scarlett. Maybe it can be hers too."_

" _This isn't her home! This is_ my _home, and yours._ Her _home is earth."_

 _Skylar awoke to the sounds of bickering. This was nothing new. Arguing and yelling had been one of her father's favorite pastimes. But this time was-different. She felt warm, and safe somehow. Whatever she was laying on was firm and yet soft, and it comforted her._

" _Look at her Scarlett, she needs our help. And in time, maybe she could help us."_

 _Skylar winced. She didn't like being talked about like she wasn't there. She wanted to let whoever was know that she was awake. She tried to sit up, but it was too hard. She tried to talk, but all she could manage was a disoriented mumbling._

" _Shhh—do you hear that? I think she's awake."_

 _In an instant, she felt someone at her side._

" _Experion?" she mumbled._

" _Yes, I'm here," he answered. She felt him reach and stroke her arm._

 _Skylar groaned with effort, and managed to open her eyes. A vision of red assaulted her vision. Everything was red; the walls, the ceiling, and the bed she was laying upon. It was all a deep, dusty, maroon color, and it looked like it was completely made out of lava rock. She was lying on a small lava rock bed, Experion at her side. Above him stood another girl, with long dark hair and brown eyes._

" _What happened? whe-where am I?" asked Skylar, at shock in her new surroundings._

" _You're on my planet, planet Caldara," answered Experion. "This is our home planet. And this is my friend, Scarlett."_

" _And who are you?" barked Scarlett._

" _I—I'm Skylar," coughed Skylar._

 _Scarlett sniffed, as though Skylar's name confirmed some theory she had about the girl._

" _Of course," smirked Scarlett. "A perfectly normal name for a perfect Normo."_

" _I'm not a normo!" exclaimed Skylar indignantly. "At least, I don't think I am. At any rate, I definitely am not normal. I have powers."_

" _What kind of powers?"_

" _Bionic ones," it was Experion that answered. "I saw them. When the soldiers were fighting with that guy-Krane? I saw their powers, and it was amazing. You're one of them, aren't you?"_

 _Skylar nodded. "Krane was my father. I was his head soldier, S-1."_

 _Scarlett rolled her eyes. "Fine, so you have some little powers and soldier name. That doesn't make you a superhero, and that doesn't mean you belong here."  
_

" _But she can belong here," argued Experion. He turned back to Skylar. "This can be your new home."_

 _Scarlett rolled her eyes. "She doesn't even look like us, Experion! How are we going to explain her presence to the others?"_

" _We make her look like on of us," smiled Experion. "With her powers, no one would ever know the difference. And we can use the regenerating goo to reform her facial features into a Calderan. The people on Earth would never question the presence of another Calderan superhero." He smiled. "You can be one of us, Skylar."_

 _Skylar smiled and laid back, closing her eyes._

\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Something uncomfortable was pressing against her head. She tried to wiggle away from it, but it kept pressing.

She took a deep breath, and coughed. Dust was filling her lungs. In the distance, an alarm was buzzing. She tried to open her eyes, to figure out what was going on around her, but it was too late. She was already drifting back to the world of unconsciousness.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\

" _You took those guys out no problem! Blue tornado would have been impressed."_

" _I never would have been able to do it if you hadn't thought to throw me those night-vision goggles. I couldn't have seen a thing without them!"_

 _The others laughed._

" _I think we can all agree that you two make a wonderful team," said Scarlett. "You've taken down more villains in the past two years then Experion ever did on his own."_

" _Hey, hey. I was just waiting for the right partner to come along," defended Experion while the girls laughed._

 _Skylar grinned as she took another sip of her strawberry-lava shake. With some new facial structures, and a new team behind her, no one would ever have recognized her as the weak-willed villain that tried to kill off four bionic teens in the middle of the bionic crisis. Coming back to earth still made her nervous, but it was a necessary part of the job. Plus, from what she heard, Davenport and his team had relocated to some remote, bionic island off the coast, so the chances of her ever running into the people who thought they killed her where very slim._

" _So I was thinking," said Experion, as he picked up another fry. "We do work pretty well together."_

 _Skylar blushed, but she smiled back. "We do," she answered._

" _Probably one of the best superhero duos to date," continued Experion._

" _Yes, maybe," said Skylar slowly, wondering where this all was leading._

" _Probably even good enough to take down the Annihilator himself."_

 _Scarlet choked on her shake. "The Annihilator? You want Skylar to waltz in with you and take on one of the baddest villains in superhero history?"_

" _Why not?" asked Experion, offended. "Skylar's been training; she's awesome. I bet with the two of us, we could do it."_

" _Skylar's my best friend, Experion," said Scarlett. "I don't want you pulling her into one of your little fast-thought though schemes and getting her hurt."_

" _I think it's up to Skylar to make that decision," said Experion calmly. "So, Skylar, what do you say? Ready to take on one of the best villains in history with the best superhero team Earth has ever known?"_

 _Skylar hesitated. Experion and Scarlett watched her._

" _Skylar?"_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"Skylar? Skylar? Skylar?"

The alarms were getting louder. She could hear sirens in the distance. Where were they coming from? What was happening?

Skylar lifted her head and opened her eyes a bit, but all she could see was a haze of dust and smoke. And a dark figure, loaming above her.

Skylar blinked, and the worried figure of Horace Diaz came into focus. He was bloodied and bruised, and covered from head to toe in what appeared to be remints of the Mighty Med ceiling.

"Skylar! You're alive!" Horace embraced her with an awkward hug, bending over a pile of rubble to reach her. Skylar winced as she felt her ribs groan in protest from the movement.

"Horace?" coughed Skylar. "What's happening?"

Horace pulled away from her. He looked more disheartened then she had ever seen him. Whatever was happening, it was worse then the time he found out that there was no such thing as bottom-hats.

"You'd better get up," he said. "I'll help you, come on."

He took her arm and lifted her out of the pile she had been sitting in. She looked around in shock. The room, which she recognized as the entrance of Mighty Med, was completely in shambles. The walls were crumbling, and the medical equipment was upset and strewn about the floor. A whole chunk of the ceiling was missing in the left corner, and half of an x-ray machine from the upper floor was hanging precariously through the hole.

"Oh no," gasped Skylar. Memories came back to her now. Of the fight; Roman and Riker's surprise attack, the casualties.

"Horace, where's Oliver and Kaz?"

Horace looked nervous. "They're over there," he said, gesturing to the threshold to the Normo hospital. "But Skylar…"

Skylar pushed him aside and hurried over to her friends. As she approached the magical janitor's closet that served as the entrance to Mighty Med, she saw into the upper floor of the Normo hospital. She was disinherited to see that it looked in no better condition then Mighty Med. How could someone be so heartless?

Kaz and Oliver were both sprawled across the floor, unconscious. She faintly remembered Roman hitting them with some sort of ray weapon as they dashed to evacuate patients from the hospital.

"Horace," she cried, turning to find him behind her. "What's wrong with them? Are they going to be okay?"

"They're going to be fine," answered someone. But it wasn't Horace.

Skylar turned back to the entrance. Through the dust, she saw the shadow of someone approaching. A medium-height man with short brown hair and a solemn face. Donald Davenport.

How had he found her? Skylar tensed before realizing that he had no idea who she was; she was safe behind her new disguise as a Calderan.

"What do you want?" she asked, trying to keep the bite out of her voice.

"I want to help," said the man calmly. "I own an academy where I train and treat bionic superhero-"

"I know who you are, Donald Davenport," cut in Skylar. "What do you have to do with us? How did you even know to find this place?"

"He and I have been in contact before," said Horace. Skylar turned and looked at her doctor in shock. Horace knew the importance of the superhero code; she couldn't believe he would have spread their secret around to egotistical inventors like Davenport.

"We work in similar fields," explained Horace. "Bionics and superheroes; they have a lot to learn from each other. Davenport has known about this place for awhile. I called him for help."

"And I came," said Davenport. "Skylar, your abilities are amazing, and now so are Oliver's and Kaz's. I want to offer you the opportunity to get back at Roman and Riker," he continued. "I want you to work for me. I want to form a powered team, to help protect the world from people like them."

"Don't you already have one? A bionic team, I mean?"

Davenport smiled sadly. "I used too, but they're busy with the academy now. I need new people to join our ranks, and you three are the perfect candidates."

"Kaz and Oliver are unconscious," she said. "They can't agree to anything."

"But I can help them. Come with me, and I'll care for them, and when they're awake, we'll ask them what they think."

Skylar looked back at Horace, who shrugged.

"He's the best chance you and your friends have," he said. "I need to go and get care for my nephew somewhere safe. I'd feel better knowing you were being taken care of."

Skylar sighed. The idea of working closely with the man who almost had her killed pained her, but she knew it was the best chance for Oliver and Kaz to survive.

"Come on Skylar," said Davenport. "It's time to begin a new chapter in your life."


	4. Chapter 4

**Some Time Later**

The sun was low in the sky as the most veiled Elite Force member sat out on the penthouse deck; watching the flaming orb sink into the Earth like a powerful giant of the ocean-like sky.

It was hard to believe that their sun was actually one of the smaller stars in the Milky Way galaxy. It seemed impossible that all of those other stars had the ability to be as essential to other life forms as the Earth's people's sun was to them.

The Earth's horizon had just swallowed the very tip of the crucial star when Skylar had the feeling someone else had joined her on the deck.

"Hey, it's me." It was Chase, the team's ex-leader and all-around nerd. He made his way out to the thoughtful girl. "Do you mind if I join you?"

Skylar shook her head and motioned to the lounge chair beside her, welcoming him to sit without her words, since she was not quite ready to pull herself out of her meditative state enough to talk.

Chase, however, seemed determined to have a conversation with the immersed team member.

"How are you holding up after last night's trouble?" He asked, with a genuinely concerned voice that reminded her of the last time a friend betrayed her.

Chase feared for a moment that the goddess-like creature before him would sink away from his grasp back into her depressed space before he could reach her, but instead she surfaced and turned to face him with an answer.

"I'm okay, just little shocked."

"You are not alone in that feeling. We're all feeling a little jolted after Roman and Riker got that list of heroes." Chase was hoping that his words would comfort her, but they seemed to have the opposite effect.

Chase was trying to understand her, but it only served to remind her of how distant they really were.

Deciding a new topic of conversation might provide better results, Chase looked to the heavens for help.

"Look over there, the first star of the evening." Skylar's eyes followed his finger as he pointed to the bright star, which was still basking in a warm, but quickly fading pink and orange glow from the recently set sun.

A faint sign of a smile tinted the corners of Skylar's mouth, giving Chase the confidence to continue.

"You know, that's probably not really a star, but actually a planet. People often confuse the two, but it's easy to tell the difference because stars twinkle, whereas plants show a constant light. That's because stars are further away, with—"

"More atmosphere in between them and us, causing them to appear to twinkle," interrupted Skylar.

Chase looked at her, slightly surprised. Would this girl ever cease to surprise him with her talents?

"Yes, that's right," he said, smiling.

Skylar was not looking at him, however. She was focused on the planet shining in the auburn skies.

"That's probably the planet Venus," she stated smartly. "It's always the first star to appear in the evening, and the last to disappear in the morning because it's the closest object to Earth, besides the moon. In ancient times, people named it appropriately "Venus" meaning—"

"Morning and Evening star," finished Chase knowingly. Now, Skylar turned to him and smiled.

"That's right," she echoed his earlier comment.

Skylar enjoyed talking to Chase, but it was difficult to truly feel close to him because he did not know her past, and there was no way he could ever relate to her life. It was as though she was back on her plant Caldara, and they were here, trying to reach her from across the galaxies.

Interestingly enough, that is how Chase often felt when he was talking to the curious girl. Skylar, was as of now still an unbalanced equation that he couldn't figure out how to steady, no matter how much he wanted too.

The two of them looked so peaceful together out on the deck as the sun finished setting, watching the stars come out and discussing ancient Greek names. Chase, for the first time in his life, was not thinking about appearing smarter then everyone else, or of retaining his title as 'mission leader'. His mind was completely occupied with the thought of helping Skylar. He was so concerned about her recent moody lapses that when he did think of her, any other ulterior motives in his mind were fully blown away by his overwhelming compassion and want to assist her on her journey of recovery. After all, a team was only strong if each and every member on the team was healthy, inside and out.

As the two talked and laughed, they remained unaware of the jealous eyes watching them from the kitchen, cursing Chase, and wishing that there was some way to win Skylar's innocent heart. Chase said something particularly humorous, and Skylar threw back her head in laughter. Oliver threw his dish into the sink roughly and stomped out of the kitchen, his mind spinning with hurt and confusion.


	5. Chapter 5

Things moved quickly for the newly assembled team after the evil twins had caught up the list of heroes. Suddenly, this team was no longer a bunch of teenagers trying to get their feet wet in a new team; their feet were already so wet that they were getting wrinkled. They had to be. The team needed to accelerate past all of the new adjustments that came with working with new people and speed directly into a smoothly working system if they wanted any hope of saving all of the heroes they had now exposed.

Skylar welcomed the easy distraction from her own turmoil of feelings, as did Oliver; the work kept them both from thinking about the ones they loved and could never have. Skylar's lover was miles away, however, whereas Oliver's saw him everyday. The argument could be made, however, that Oliver was truly the one suffering, since he was forced to watch his heart's desire live her life out right in front of him, all the while completely oblivious to his feelings for her.

Therefore, the hard work which sprang up due to the rush of missions that came their way served well to keep everyone's minds off romantic feelings.

For there was a war coming. Chase could feel it. Everyone could. You didn't need to be the smartest bionic in the world in order to know that nothing good could come from the two revenge-hungry twins possessing a list with all the information they needed to terminate superheroes for good. These cruel boys had been nasty enough to burn down a whole hospital full of injured, innocent people; both superheroes and normos. There was no doubt in any of these teens minds' that they were capable of far worse destruction.

It had been two weeks since Roman and Riker had gotten the list. People were tense, tempers were edgy, and muscles were getting tougher by every exhausting workout.

Chase was pushing his team to the outer limits. He was convinced that their powers as well as their human strengths had to be above and beyond normal powers if they wanted any hope of defeating Roman and Riker.

They had just finished one of their hardest training sessions to date, and Skylar and Bree were resting on the couch upstairs, trying to work up enough strength to carry on with the rest of the afternoon.

"Ohh, by muscles are so sore; I don't think I could even paint my nails with these things." Bree shrugged her noodle-like arms.

"I don't think I can do anything," seconded Skylar.

Kaz shuffled by slowly, on his way to the refrigerator.

"Hey, could you grab me a water?" asked Bree.

"Yeah, me too." nodded Skylar. "I don't think I can stand up right now."

Kaz rolled his eyes. "How do you two heroes expect to stand up and fend off the most powerful villains we've ever had to face if you can't even function after training?"

"Look, if we really needed to get up; we would. But we don't have to; that's what you're for."

Kaz was ready with his response when Chase came rushing out of the holo-elevator like his feet were on fire.

"Guys, mission alert; one of the subway tunnels have caved in and there's a train full of people due to arrive there in fifteen minutes. They will be smashed to oblivion if we can't help it."

"Isn't there some way to warn the train before it hits?" asked Bree as she jumped up, sore limbs forgotten.

"I've tried," said Chase, throwing his arms to his sides, signaling his failure in that effort. "Everyone; the fire department, the police; they all said they would see what they can do, but it's already so close to impact that they said they don't have much hope for stopping it. Plus, the train is on a preprogramed route, so there's not even a conductor we can call."

"Well, if it's an electrical train, can't you just hack in and stop it?" asked Kaz. "I thought you were supposed to be the mega-brain of this team."

"I already tried, the signal coming from the train is blocked by a hardware that would take to long to get through. The only hope now is if we can clear the track manually before the train reaches it."

"Okay, let's go," Skylar and Bree were dressed and there long before the boys caught up on Mr. Davenport's speed car.

The members stared at the seemingly endless wall of ruble that was piled all the way up to where the roof of the station would be, if some unknown, very powerful, force hadn't obliterated it. Above the tracks there was no longer a roof; instead, the team could see up beyond where the roof should be into a space of about ten feet, then another concrete structure, which Skylar assumed was the underside of the sidewalk above them. A normal sidewalk where normal people were walking right now; completely unaware of the tragedy about to befall under them.

"Okay, we have seven minutes until impact. We need to get to work now," said Chase. "And everyone watch the third wire by the sides of the track; it has enough electrical power running through it to fry anyone who touches it for good."

All the team members quickly took note of the dangerous wire behind them.

"There's no way we can clear this all by hand in time; it looks like about fifteen feet of the roof has caved in." Skylar observed.

Chase began running calculations in his head to see if there was anyway they could get around this obvious impediment before them.

"Okay, Oliver, use your water cycle. If you can get enough force behind it, then maybe you can blow most of this rubble to the sides and we can clear the rest."

Oliver nodded at Chase's suggestion, and took his stance in the center of the rails, careful not to touch the electric third wire, and raised his hands towards the wall of rock.

Bracing his feet against one of the wooden slates of the track, Oliver slowly began his water cyclone. It steadily gained power, growing larger and larger until it reached a towering side. He then gently angled it towards the ominous rock pile, and gave it more power. He could feel the resistance from the rock gaining more force as his cyclone, likewise, got bigger. The water washed over the rocks with a mighty blow, sounding like the thundering roar of a million waterfalls crashing into the deepest cavern of the world. Even so, the water seemed to have absolutely no effect on the rocks. They stayed wedged together, stubbornly un-budging.

"Okay Kaz, see if you can help him out with your blast," said Chase in an authoritative voice, even though his eyes were nervously dancing back and forth between his watch and Oliver's water wave.

"No problem," said Kaz.

He took his place next to Oliver, braced himself, and began to add his power to Oliver's force.

"It's not working!" screamed Bree, nearly hysterical with anticipation.

"Just give them some time to gain power," said Chase, trying to hang onto some of his mission leader attitude.

"But they don't _have_ time!" exclaimed Bree. "The train will be here any minute, and hundreds of people will lose their lives if we can't get this rock away! Tell them to stop spraying water at the rock and give me a shot at clearing it with my speed!"

"NO!" yelled Chase, completely losing his composure. "Let them try! You'd never be able to clear this rock manually in time; their superhero powers are our last hope at getting it all cleared."

"Sorry little bro, but you're not mission leader anymore."

"Bree wait, what are you—" The former commander's sentence was cut short by Bree's familiar swoosh of speed as she dashed towards the rock wall. Oliver and Kaz, who were unaware of the sudden mad run by Bree, did not let up on their blast until she had already made it past them to the rock wall. Before she had even made it to her first rock, the power from Oliver's and Kaz's forces combined threw her backwards into the side of the wall.

Bree hit the wall with a distasteful 'thunk!' and fell to the gravel below, unconscious.

Shocked, Oliver and Kaz quickly stopped their blasts.

"No! Don't stop!" exclaimed Chase, running forward. "I'll get Bree, you guys continue blasting that wall! We only have two minutes!"

"It's not working!" yelled back Oliver, as Kaz ran to make sure Bree was okay. She wasn't.

"And Bree's unconscious!" shouted Kaz. "We need to get her back to the penthouse right now."

"No, we need to clear this track right now," countered Chase.

"Hey Chase, what if I use my blast wave abil—power to break down the wall?" asked Skylar.

"No, that's too risky; you just got your powers back and are still re-adjusting to having them."

"Well, Oliver and Kaz just _got_ their powers, and you let them give it a shot anyway."

"Yes, but they've been training with those powers specifically; you've just been working on speed mostly. If your power goes run and ricochets off these walls, it could kill us all."

"But if I don't try it, in one minute, _that-_ "she gestured to the wall "could kill hundreds of innocents. I've got to try."

"Wait!" yelled Chase uselessly after Skylar.

Skylar ran forward, braced herself, and raised her hands in much of the same fashion that Oliver had. She took a deep breath to steady her racing heart, and conjured up the power within.

The force of her blast could be felt thorough the entire tunnel, and the vibrations carried through the walls down for many miles. Flying rocks and rumbles bounced off the walls and down the tracks, many coming within inches of ending one of the team members for good. As the shower of rock continued, Kaz instinctively wrapped himself protectively around the unconscious Bree, shielding her completely from flying rock.

Chase and Oliver both ran as quickly as they could to Skylar; but Chase's superior experience in the mission field gave him an upper hand in the race.

The seconds on his mental timer were clicking down until the moment the train would make it's way down the track and smash Skylar into the ground.

"Skylar!" he yelled in a warning tone. She didn't seem to hear him. She was trying to regain her strength from another blast at the reaming ruble; but she was far from ready for another blast, and her quick attempt caused her to nearly pass out from the exertion.

Chase saw the lights of the oncoming train out the corner of his left eye. He felt a piece of rock come so close to his head that it brushed his hair. He heard the crunching gravel of a second pair of feet stop behind him, and he heard Oliver's helpless scream to Skylar. He could taste the daunting perception of fear on his tongue.

Everything slowed to an unrealistically slow pace. Skylar's chestnut locks were flying behind her face, which was set in concentration, but quickly giving way to tiredness. Her shoulders drooping, her hand lowering; she was slowly falling backwards onto the track. If she fell, she would be stuck between the two rails while the train rushed over her, surly killing her the minute it passed over her head.

He had to get to her before then. Even as the thought entered his mind, Chase felt another burst of energy erupt in his legs. He felt his legs jump, but he didn't think. He felt his arms opening to reach Skylar, but he didn't think about their motion. He felt Skylar's body become enveloped into his, but he did not have time to think about the events happening. He felt the angry breath of the oncoming train, so close he was sure it was going to bring them both to their death. He saw the lights inches from his eyes. He could smell dirt and sweat, and the fragrance of Skylar's pineapple perfume. He heard the train rush by them, and he felt the harsh gravel on his knees as he tumbled to the ground, holding Skylar, mere centimeters from the third wire of the train tracks as the passenger train roared by with a dragon-like speed.

He felt a hard shock below him, and saw with horror that blood was coming from somewhere. He watched, frozen in silence, as Skylar's eyes became glassy, then slowly closed. The metallic smell of blood was all around him; it was clutching him in its grasp of despair as he tried desperately to understand what had happened.

Then his saw the rock. The jagged edge of the concrete chuck, jutting up inches away from him, and doused in Skylar's ruby blood.

The sight sickened him, but what really made him want to join Skylar in her unconscious state was when he discovered the gash on the back of her neck. She had hit the lower part of her head and her neck against the rock, cutting deep into her flesh and decorating the gravel of the tunnel with her blood.


	6. Chapter 6

Chase was frozen and silent as the train rushed by, and as his friends came to him, and as they discovered Skylar's injured state. He silently helped them load the two girls into the Daven-car, silently got into the car, and silently drove back to the penthouse.

To Oliver and Kaz, who were in the car, Chase was in a very concentrated, solemn mood. But to anyone on the street, he was an unfocused madman who had no respect for speeding laws.

Chase didn't care; he couldn't think of laws or traffic lights right now. All he could think about was the two unconscious girls in the back of the car, and how he was personally responsible for both of their immobilized states.

They rushed home at top speed, and were met by a just as anxious Mr. Davenport, who had come as quickly as he could after getting a frantic call from Kaz.

The girls were transported down into mission control, where Davenport had set up a few hospital cots for them to be set on. He quickly hooked Bree up to a monitor and set Kaz to cleaning her wounds before he got to work on Skylar. When Chase showed him the wound on the back of Skylar's neck, his 'flawless' face turned an unsettling shade of green. He quickly got to work on her lifeless body, but was constantly hounded on both sides by either Oliver or Chase, both who were trying their best to help, but were really just proving the old saying of 'too many cooks spoil the broth'.

Finally, Mr. Davenport sent them both upstairs, and ordered them not to come down until he said they could. Kaz was allowed to stay, since he was 'the least annoying of the three at the current moment,' as Mr. Davenport put it.

Then, he turned his attention back to the greatly damaged Calderian girl.

/

Skylar awoke to the steady beeping of hospital equipment. She gently opened her eyes, and then quickly winced as the light shocked her optical rhodopsin, which had become accustomed to the darkness provided by her closed eyelids.

She turned her head around to survey the room she was in. It took her a moment to recognize that she was laying on a cot in mission control. She saw a similar cot beside her with the same equipment around it; but that one was empty. Whoever had been there had obviously recovered and left. There seemed to be no one else in the room besides herself. Skylar thought carefully, trying to remember what had happened that had put her into such a helpless position, but she could not recall to memory the events leading to her current situation.

She heard a shuffling noise behind her, and Mr. Davenport stepped up to the side of her bed. She had not noticed him before because he was standing out of her line of vision, up by her head.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, a concerned look with just a hint of green shadowing his face.

"I'm okay, I guess," answered Skylar. "What happened?"

Mr. Davenport pulled up a swirling chair to the side of the bed and sat down before answering. "The official answer, that is, what I'm telling the other team members, is that you hit the back of your neck against a rock and damaged your cerebral cortex; causing you to pass out. This would make you extremely weak, and give you a recovery time of about three weeks, which matches up pretty accurately to what actually occurred."

"And what actually occurred was-" Skylar prompted him, desperate for the truth, but fearing it all the same.

"What actually happened is that you didn't hurt your spinal cord at all because it was protected by your chip, which is was took most of the shock from your hit against rock."

Skylar gasped. Did this mean that her bionics were gone? Was she going to have to leave the team now that she had no hope of having powers again? Her extreme concerns must have shown on her face, because Mr. Davenport quickly stepped in to answer her questions before they were asked.

"Don't worry, nothing serious occurred, and I managed to download some repair programs which will have it back in full working order in about three weeks; but you will need to be careful using your powers until then."

"Oh, good," said Skylar, her low voice filled with a deep sentiment of thankfulness.

"Yes, good for your chip, but still not good for you." Mr. Davenport's concerned look quickly gave way to one of anger. "What were you thinking? For goodness sake, I give you a position on this team, and in just a few missions you mange to practically reveal the true source of your powers to the rest of the team! You promised me that wasn't going to happen; which is why I allowed you to continue on with your little identity charade."

"I'm sorry!" exclaimed Skylar. "I didn't have a choice! Someone needed to clear the path for that train or else people would have died! It got through, didn't it?"

"Yes it did, and you did a very good job in regards to the mission; but that's not the point. The point is that your team trusts you now. Did you hear me? They're _your_ team. They love you and risk their lives for you, and you repay them by keeping all of these secrets from them; or very poorly try to keep them, at least. At this rate, they will learn everything about you and your abilities; and they will never trust you again!"

Skylar felt his words hit her harder then the rock that had damaged her chip. The idea of her team, whom she had grown to love and appreciate, turning on her made her shiver a little. She didn't want to do anything to hurt them; but she felt that if she told them the truth about herself, that's exactly what it would do. Firstly, Oliver and Kaz would be upset that she had lied to them for the past two years that she had known them, Bree would be mad when she realized her alien 'sister' was actually the very one who had exposed her and her brothers to the world and then tried to killed them so long ago, and Chase…..for some reason the thought of disappointing her ex-mission leader scared Skylar most of all. He was the smartest one here, and she felt a connection to him somehow; they both were on the road to discovering what their incredible gifts could do in order to succeeded. Skylar couldn't begin to imagine the look of disappointment which was sure to appear on Chase's face if he discovered she was lying.

"What do I do?" she asked quietly.

Mr. Davenport sighed. "You need to make a decision; you can either tell them about your chip now, or stay silent for the rest of your time with this team. It's now or never to reveal your true identity, or it will be too late and the shock the team will receive from the discovery will push them so far away from you that it will be nearly impossible to gain their trust again. You need to make a choice."

As he finished speaking, the elevator opened and out stepped Chase.

"Hey Skylar, you're awake!" Chase ran up and gave her a friendly hug, careful not to hurt her neck. When he pulled away, he inspected her face carefully. "Are you okay?"

Skylar hesitated for a moment, then smiled. "Yes," she said. "I'm fine, Mr. Davenport just says I hit my spinal cord and will be recuperating for about three weeks, but I should be perfectly fine then."

Chase nodded. "Okay, that's good to hear."

Skylar nodded.

"Well then," said Chase. "You want to come upstairs? Everyone's anxious about you, and Oliver's been pacing ever since we left."

Skylar nodded. She gingerly stepped out of the bed. Chase led the way to the elevator. Right before stepping in, she looked back at Mr. Davenport. He shook his head at her, a warning look taking over his features.

Skylar forced herself to look away from his cautioning face. She had already had to reveal her true identity to Davenport when he administered medical support to her and Kaz and Oliver.

But she would tell no one else. She had made her decision. Now she needed to do everything she could to keep the others from discovering who she really was.


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing Skylar saw when she got upstairs was Oliver's chest; covered with a jacket of course, as her face was being pressed into it while he held her in a tight embrace. The warmth of his jacket felt good after her traumatic experience, even though she had never really had any fear; she had trusted her team.

Chase left the two of them to talk, and headed over to the couch where Bree and Kaz were sitting.

"Are you okay? What happened? Does your neck hurt? Is there anything I can do? Do you need something to eat?" Oliver's concern showed more obviously then Mr. Davenport's and Chase's ever had. It was painted across his face in large, swooping brushstrokes. It made Skylar feel bad to know so many people cared about her. Because they only cared about the Skylar that they thought they knew.

Still, it was still a little comical how concerned he was about everything, and Skylar couldn't help laughing a little.

"What is it?" he asked, curious how she could be so cheerful after nearly dying.

"I'm fine Oliver, I just hit my back a bit. No big deal. And as for the other questions, I could really go for a grilled cheese right now."

"Are your sure you're okay?" he asked, still not fully believing the miracle taking place before his eyes. Skylar's strength persevered in anything she did.

"Yes, I'm sure Oliver. But thank-you for caring so much. It really means a lot." Skylar smiled up at him, her perfect alien teeth shining like freshly bleached tile.

It was the hardest thing in world for Oliver not to reach over and kiss her right now.

Instead, he reached across and gave her another quick hug.

"Well, I guess I've got a grilled cheese to make." Skylar smiled again. The two of them made their way over to the kitchen counter, where Skylar sat as he made her a sandwich. The two of them talked and laughed together as he cooked. If Oliver had had the power to look into the future, and choose to do so this very minute, Oliver hoped that this exact scene would be playing in twenty years. Except with one difference. He hoped that in twenty years he would not be cooking for Skylar, his friend, but instead for Skylar, his wife.

/

Kaz didn't know when he had started having feelings for Bree, and he still wasn't really sure what it was about her that made him so attracted to her. It wasn't really for her beauty, even though she was beautiful; but, he _had_ been with Stephanie for a while, and he had to admit that Stephanie did top Bree on the beauty scale. It couldn't really be for her personality, either, since he hadn't really known her all that long. And for that time period that he had known her, she had pretty much done nothing but nag him about what he was doing wrong. She was always the neat one who wanted everything to be the girly version of 'perfect,' and he was the one who always wanted everything to be the guy version of messy. So it might have seemed like they were polar opposites, but there was definitely something about her that made him want to explore his feelings a little bit more.

So he was going to ask her out on a date. He felt that the straightforward approach was better then a dating trick of games and loving glances from a distance. He had watched Oliver struggle through his love for Skylar for such a long and pathetic time that he knew that wasn't what he wanted with Bree. He just wanted to go out with her, spend a bit of time together, and see if they had something or if it was just his messy imagination.

He had his goal in mind as he walked up to her and Skylar's door and knocked, but the words kind of died in his mouth when she opened the door. Suddenly all the dating experience he had gotten in high school and in his brief time going out with Stephanie faded in an instant.

"Hi Kaz! What's up?" she asked in her flouncy manner, pushing some stray strands of hair to the side of her head and tucking it behind her ear.

"Oh, well, you know…" mumbled Kaz in a nervous voice, creating a rather comical tv-ready scene.

It took them a few minutes to actually strike up a conversation that could be continued, and they chatted for a few moments about the team and about Skylar.

Then, Kaz sprung the question; 'would you like to go out sometime?'

And, surprise to all surprises; she said yes!

Kaz was incredibly happy when he heard that, and decided to leave before he did something stupid and made Bree change her mind.

"Okay, well, bye then!" he waved, turning around and heading back where he had come from.

"Bye!" called Bree after him.

There was definitely a spring in his step and he walked away down the hall.

Bree shook her head as she closed her door, smiling to herself. "What an odd little boy he is," she said to her room. Even so, she was excited about their date, and anxious to see if there was more to the feelings of attraction she had been experiencing recently.

He had a way about him that made her feel special somehow, which was shown in his caring manner. He was clumsy and messy, sure, but he was incredibly sweet at times too.

"Should be interesting," she said to her wall, before stepping away from her door and further into her room, with just a hint of a smile on her face.


	8. Chapter 8

Kaz was nervous. He had been on dates before-with Stephanie, remember? Hottest girl in school?-but he wouldn't consider himself a 'dating expert.'

His nerves kept him back and forth all of the next day through training. First, he was trying to decide where he should take Bree on their date. I had to be somewhere interesting so she wouldn't get bored, and it had to be somewhere that wasn't overdone. He had heard enough of her and Skylar's 'girl conversations' to know Bree had had plenty of previous boyfriends. No doubt she had been on hundreds of dates, and he didn't want to be just another un-remembered night in her date book.

Secondly, he was fretting over what to wear. He wanted to look nice, because he cared about her and about this date and wanted to make a good impression. Then again, he wanted to look laid back and chill, and in no way at all desperate.

As if these thoughts weren't tremulous enough, he had to ponder it during an intense training session, where he was forced to work in close contact with the very girl he was worrying about. Furthermore, Chase kept interrupting his very important thoughts with combat advice and useless jibber-jabber regarding their fight against Roman and Riker.

When training was over, Kaz grabbed Oliver by his shoulder and dragged him up to his bedroom, where he proceeded to participate in the longest Kaz fashion show ever to have taken place in history. Oliver became an unwilling participant in this event, unable to leave until Kaz had finally selected an outfit they both deemed acceptable.

Then, at six sharp, Kaz dashed down the stairs and up the girls' hallway to Bree's door.

"Hey Kaz," said Skylar, opening the door. "Bree's getting ready; she'll be here in a second."

"Oh, good," said Kaz, wiping his hands nervously on his jeans. "So, better feel you?"

Skylar looked at him curiously. "Are you asking me if I feel better?"

Kaz nodded, not trusting himself to speak. His nerves were making normal conversation impossibility at this moment.

"Well then, yes. I am feeling a little better, thank-you for asking. Mr. Davenport says I should be ready to join back in on missions in less then three weeks."

"That good," said Kaz. He was then spared from any other conversation by Bree coming to the door.

"Hey Kaz," greeted Bree. She was dressed in skin-tight jeans and a striped top. Kaz silently thanked god that he had gone with his more casual look so he didn't look like a total idiot.

"Hey Bree," started Kaz. Bree smiled. And suddenly, just like that, Kaz's inhabitations dissipated. He suddenly felt a lot lighter, and seemed to know exactly what to do. He offered Bree his arm to lead her down the stairs, which might have been a little much, but seemed totally appropriate at the time.

Bree laughed and accepted his chivalry happily. Kaz had decided to play it easy with a pic-nic dinner and an evening hike. It seemed simple enough, but he spruced it up by driving them there in Davenport's high-speed car.

"Are you sure Davenport said you could drive this?" asked Bree as she and Kaz made their way down the streets.

"He didn't say I couldn't."

"Did you ask him?"

"Not really, but that doesn't mean anything. Besides, I've had my permit for like, a month now. I'm completely qualified to drive you. Plus, we're superheroes, what could happen?"

Bree laughed and Kaz's heart jumped to hear her happiness. When they got to the park-safely after all-he took out the basket from the back where he had packed sandwiches. Then he flew them to the top of a nearby mountain so they could skip the hike.

"I've never really been one for pointless exercise," admitted Kaz. "And now I can fly. What's really the point?"

"Seems like a logical point to me," agreed Bree laughingly. Kaz laughed with her. He felt comfortable poking fun at his physical state, especially when Bree saw him in training sessions and knew what he could actually accomplish.

"I love having powers," said Kaz as they set up. "Sometimes I worry I'll wake up one morning and this will have all been a dream."

Bree nodded sympathetically as she took a bit out of sandwich he handed her.

"I never had that fear," she said. "I've lived my whole life with these superhuman powers, after all. But now that I have superpowers too, I worry mixing them might make my system overload or something, somehow I'll lose both."

"But Chase said it was fine, didn't he?"

Bree shrugged. "He did, both he and Davenport agreed I was good to go for missions. But, I do still worry. It's not like they're experts on superpowers, after all."

Kaz watched her in the fading light as he finished his own sandwich. He had never realized she had these insecurities. Her face was glowingly beautiful in the fading light, but underneath her could see an ebbing of fear. He felt honored she was opening up to him, but he also wanted to comfort her.

"Well, I won't pretend to be a master of superpowers," said Kaz slowly. "But I did work in a superhero hospital for two years of my life. I can't promise you'll be fine, since I've never seen a case like you before. But I can promise you that if I notice any symptoms, I'll bring it to attention. And most likely I'll be able to help."

Bree smiled her thanks at him, and then began to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"You just said you'd never seen a case like mine."

"Well, I haven't."

"So I'm unique?"

"You definitely are."

Bree's grin spread even wider. Behind her, the sun sunk below the horizon, casting the surrounding landscape in an encompassing golden luminance.

Once it began to get cold, Kaz flew them down the mountain. They had a few more laughs as he drove them back to the building. His driving skill was surprisingly safe, despite only having his learner's permit for a week.

The two made their way into the building, and Bree pressed the button for the elevator. The doors opened, and they made their way inside the small space.

"Darn, someone came before us and pushed all the buttons."

Kaz hurried to Bree's side to confirm what she was saying. Indeed, nearly every button on the stainless steel panel was alight.

"Probably some little child who like seeing the lights go on," said Kaz. He pushed the button for the penthouse-oddly one of the floors not selected previously by the deviant child. The two of them slowly began their ascent up the building.

Kaz was very aware of Bree's closeness to him on the ride up the elevator. As they near the top floors, the silence between them seemed to stretch an eternity. Kaz cleared his throat.

"What?" Bree turned to him.

"Oh, I didn't say anything," said Kaz nervously. He felt he would very much like to kiss her, but he didn't know how to instigate that scenario or to put it into words.

Bree saved him any trouble. As they neared their floor, she dashed between his arms and landed a quick kiss on his lips. She was soft and warm, and clearly more experienced then him in kissing.

As soon as she pulled away, the doors opened on their top floor. Bree entered the penthouse first, Kaz following behind in a slight daze.

His euphoria clouded his mind for a second, and he didn't right away register the sight of the room around them. Things were smashed, the couch cushions were all out of place, and Oliver was running around, frantic.

"Oliver! What's wrong?" snapped Bree, running up and grabbing him by the arm to keep him from running off. Oliver looked at them, fear and pain sketched into the flesh of his face.

"They took them."

"Who?" Asked Kaz, confused. "Who took who?"

"I don't know who, some Caldarian girl. I think she must be an old enemy of Skylar's…she broke in, and kidnapped them."

"Kidnapped who?" asked Bree desperately.

"Skylar and Chase. She has them both, I don't know where."


	9. Chapter 9

Skylar could tell a few things when she woke up, even before she opened her eyes.

Firstly, she was with someone else, and that someone was pacing around in front of her. She could tell after listening for a few seconds that it was Chase. His footfalls had their own unique pattern, forming a trail of distress and confusion across the dirt she lay on.

She could also tell they were in a cell, some kind of prison. It could not have been very big, because every four steps Chase would turn around and begin his rather short journey back across the cell, passing within a few feet of her face each turn.

Finally, she knew they were on her home planet, Caldera. She could tell this because the dirt she lay on had the warm, earthly smell of lava rock, and the air around her held an feeling of smoke and homeliness.

Once she realized where she was, Skylar jumped up so suddenly that she caused Chase to yell in surprise.

"Sorry," said Skylar hurriedly, as Chase righted himself and regained his composure. "How did we get here?"

"I'm not sure," admitted Chase. "I'm not even sure where we are."

She had been right about the cell. She was surrounded on three walls by jagged lava rock, and one wall, the side where Chase was blocking, was made up of solid steel bars.

At that moment, a door somewhere behind them opened. There were footsteps, then it slammed shut. The echo of it closing could be heard for a few seconds afterward, bouncing off of the hard red rock that surrounded them. Footfalls were coming closer. Skylar shoved Chase aside and looked out of the bars of their cell. The room before them was a small cavern that looked like it had been part of the lava tubes of the planet. The tubes twisted and turned in all directions, branching far and wide out of her line of sight. The sounds echoed throughout the cavern so wildly that it was impossible to tell which tunnel the sounds were coming from.

"Who's there?" asked Skylar, calling out into the tunnels. "Let us out!"

The footsteps did not falter, nor did they gain speed at her outburst. They continued their steady pace forward. They were getting closer and louder, but she still could not tell exactly where they came from.

"Skylar, where are we?" hissed Chase. "What's going on?"

"Shut up," snapped Skylar. "I'm trying to see-"

"Why, that's no way to treat our guest, Skylar," came a familiar voice.

Scarlett came into view, stepping out from behind a jagged outcropping in the wall. "The boy's only asking a few simple questions. No need to get snappy about it."

"I'll snap whenever I feel like it," said Skylar. "Why did you take us here? What's going on?"

Scarlet laughed. She propped herself against the back of the cavern across from the cell and observed Skylar with faint amusement. "What's with all the rush? Don't you want some time to catch up? I haven't see you in what, a year?"

"It hasn't been long enough," spat Skylar.

"Ouch, you still stuck on that whole Annihilator thing?"

"A bit."

"Well don't be," said Scarlett. She pushed herself off the wall and approached the cage. "That was a long time ago, can't we just put it all behind us?"

"You and Experion set me up! The Annihilator attacked me and damaged my"-Skylar threw a fugitive look at Chase-"Powers, and you two did nothing."

Scarlet sighed. She took up a stance in front the cell and folded her arms across her chest. "Yes, that was a bit of a misunderstanding. The blundering fool was supposed to remove all your powers, but I suppose he wasn't ready for your"—she also threw a look at Chase-" _Unique_ form of superpowers. Kinda threw him for a spin."

Skylar glared at her. Meanwhile, Chase was getting impatient.

"Skylar, and-other, Skylar. Is anyone going to tell me what's going on? Or am I going to have to guess?"

Scarlett shifted her gaze to the other bionic. "And if you were to guess, Chase Davenport, what would you think is going on?"

Chase was surprised, but he thought for a moment for answering. "Well I suppose you two know each other, and you want something from either Skylar or me or both of us, and I guess you're not going to let us go until you get it, right?"

Scarlett smirked. "Very intelligent, Mr. Davenport," she mocked. "Of course, I heard you were. It's that chip in the back of your neck, isn't it? Gives you all your brains? I wonder how strong you would be without it."

Chase narrowed his eyes.

Scarlett shifted her gaze to Skylar. "Some of us just rely so much on these upgrades—these _chips_ -its just isn't the same as true power, is it? Power that _real_ Calderans have; power that's part of us."

"Careful Scarlett," warned Skylar. Scarlett threw back her head and laughed.

"You think I care about keeping your little secret anymore, Skylar?" asked Scarlett. "I brought you back here, because we thought you might be useful to the cause. But I don't care for the lies anymore; you're not a true Calderan, and you never were. These are you people." Scarlett nodded her head to Chase.

"What are you talking about?" asked Chase.

"Quiet, she's just trying to rile us up," said Skylar. Scarlett smirked again.

"Bionics are so temperamental," she said, as she began to back out of the room. "I suppose I shouldn't overload you with too much information at once; I wouldn't want to fry your wiring. Just think about where you want to stand when the war comes; I'll be expecting an answer soon."

And with that, Scarlett turned on her heel and made her way out of the cave.

"Skylar?" asked Chase after she had left.

Skylar slowly turned to face him, taking a deep breath.

"What was that all about?


	10. Chapter 10

Skylar took and deep breath and let it out, trying to clear her head. She had a crushing feeling that the time for the truth had finally come. She was sure that when she turned Scarlett down, Scarlett's next order of business would be to reveal her secret to as many people she cared about as possible. She would rather Chase heard it from her.

"Chase," said Skylar. She balked at how quiet her voice sounded, but she forced herself to continue. "Chase, you might want to sit down. I have some things I need to tell you."

Chase looked suspicious, but he took a seat on the ground. Skylar sat beside him.

"So?" asked Chase. "What is it?"

Skylar took another calming breath, then began.

"Well, I suppose I should start by telling you I'm not really from Caldera."

Chase opened his mouth, but Skylar held up a hand to ask him to be quiet. "Please, Chase. Let me talk, you can ask questions when I'm finished."

Chase nodded, and Skylar continued with her story.

"I'm not actually from any alien planet, really. I'm from your planet. Earth is my home. And I'm not a superhero, I'm bionic. That's what Scarlett meant by me belonging with you; you're my kind. The Bionic kind."

"But that's impossible," said Chase, unable to help himself. "Who gave you your chip?"

"Your father did," answered Skylar. "Or, your uncle, or whomever he is to you. His name was Douglas."

"Douglas? Why?"

"Because my father told him too."

Skylar ran her hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face. "Okay, I guess I need to start somewhere else. Maybe my family. I was born to a couple that thrived on power. A woman in love with power and a man driven for it. My father manipulated everything and everyone in his life until he could get his hands on every weapon, blueprint and army in the world. That is, until he was killed." Skylar looked up at Chase. "Until you and your siblings killed him."

Chase was confused for a moment, then realization dawned on his features. "Krane?" he asked, incredulous. "Krane was your father?"

"Yes," said Skylar slowly. "He was."

Chase clasped his hands in front of him, thinking quickly. Skylar could see a cloud of emotions on his face, but she couldn't read any. For a moment, they both just sat in tense silence. Then, Chase spoke.

"So Krane gave you bionics," he said slowly. "He got Douglas to give them to you; you were part of his bionic army, and somehow we didn't round you up with the rest. Once his control on you was over, you came here and became a superhero."

Skylar nodded.

"But that doesn't make sense," said Chase slowly. "You were under the control of the Triton app; the others all lost their memories when they lost Krane. How do know what happened?"

"Because I wasn't under the control of the Triton app. I wore green contacts to look like one of the masses, but my chip was never uploaded with the app."

Chase looked the most shocked at this news then he had been all day. "So you just followed Krane because you…believed in what he stood for? Did you want to take over and rule the world, too?"

"No!" exclaimed Skylar. "I never wanted any of that, I just didn't know any way out! Krane didn't use the Triton app on me because he thought it limited my potential for forward thinking. But he used other means of manipulation." Skylar shuddered. "He used them on my mother too, once we got deeper into his plan and she suddenly realized this life wasn't for her. He kept her working for him until once day he decided she wasn't pulling her weight, and he got rid of her." 

Chase looked horrified. "I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be," said Skylar coldly. "She was an awful woman. Neither of my parents were the kind you would look back on fondly."

Chase slowly turned to look up at the ceiling above them. "So he pushed you into it," he said. Skylar nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her. Chase continued speaking aloud to the ceiling of rocks. "And when we killed Krane, you were free, but you didn't come to the academy."

Chase lowered his head to observe her. He studied her face closely for a second, then frowned. "But I don't recognize you. Were you there when we raided the warehouses and took out Krane?"

Skylar nodded. "When Experion found me and brought me to Caldera, he and Scarlett helped me change my features. All the Calderan girls look the same, and they wanted me to blend in and be safe."

"So who were you under Krane?"

Skylar took a deep breath. "My father called me S-1."

Chase sat up in shock. "S-1? You tried to kill my brother!"

"And you, and your sister, and your other brother," answered Skylar calmly. Chase was looking incredulous. "Chase, I know I've done some terrible things in the past, but I hope you know that I am truly sorry for all the pain that I caused you. I don't know if you can ever forgive me, but I hope you will try. I'm on your side now."

Chase bit his lip and nodded, but he didn't answer right away. After a moment he began to speak again.

"So, Scarlett. What does she want?"

Skylar took the change of topic as a hint to move on to their present situation.

"She and Experion were part of the Opposition, the younger superheroes challenging the older Calderan leaders. I was part too, but I wasn't in it as strongly as they were. I suppose they saw me as a threat to their cause, and they staged a fight with the Annihilator that put me in the hospital for good until your father, Donald Davenport, came along and managed to repair my chip."

Chase nodded slowly, letting the information sink in.

"So I suppose," continued Skylar. "That Scarlett wants me to rejoin the cause and help them fight."

"And if you don't?" asked Chase.

"If she doesn't," said Scarlett. "Then all of her little friends will meet a very unfortunate end."

Skylar and Chase both jumped to their feet. Turning, they saw Scarlett come back into view, leading Experion and three other prisoners.

"Go on in, 'Earth's greatest heroes'," said Scarlett, smirking at the bound Bree, Kaz, and Oliver. "Join your friends in their cage."


	11. Chapter 11

As Bree, Kaz, and Oliver were prodded into the cage with them, Skylar watched her once friends, her gaze teeming with anger.

"How can you do this?" she yelled. "You're leaving Earth defenseless; the Superhero code is to always protect Earth at all costs!"

"But you see, I wasn't ever much of a superhero, really," said Scarlett. "I find humans to be a bit distasteful. Probably why I never fully trusted you."

"Yeah, and ever since I joined teams with the Annihilator, I haven't been paying much heed to the Superhero code," laughed Experion.

"Why did you join him?" asked Skylar, posing a question that had been bothering her ever since the reveal of Experion's true character. "What could he have possibly offered to make you turn your back on superheroes?"

"He offered me a change," said Experion. "Superheroes have spent too long in the shadows; it's time to show the world what we're really made of."

"These guys sound just as crazy as Roman and Riker," hissed Kaz. "They're all nuts."

"Nuts is not what I would call it," said Scarlett, fixing her gaze on Kaz. Kaz leapt back in shock at the intensity of her look. "But you are wrong when you say we sound like Roman and Riker. On the contrary, they sound like us; we're the ones that put every crazy idea in their head in the first place."

"Roman and Riker work for you?" asked Chase, incredulously.

"Yes," answered Experion. "And I suggest you all do the same."

"Join our side now," said Scarlett. "And we'll show you mercy."

"We would never join the likes of you," said Bree. The others rallied behind her.

"Really?" asked Experion, looking menacing. "What about you, Skylar?"

Skylar, who had not cheered along with the others, raised her eyes to look at her old friends.

"Are you going to join the side you know is right, or burn with these superhero knock-offs?"

Skylar narrowed her gaze. "You two were the only family I ever had," she said, her voice shaking with anger. "I waited sixteen years for a decent family, and when I finally got it, you turned on me. You distrusted by alliance to the Opposition, and you were right. I would never join you or your side in this war."

"Have it your way then!" exclaimed Scarlett, and she snapped her fingers.

"Whoa, what's happening?" exclaimed Kaz, and the cage they were in began to move. The rocks from the ceiling fell away and revealed more bars surrounding them, as the cage was lowered deeper and deeper into the earth.

At first, Skylar thought Experion and Scarlett were just going to bury them under the ground and wait for them to die, but then she saw a large chink of yellow light appear at the bottom of the cage. It slowly rose and grew until the cage was out of the rock, and she blinked at the sudden light surrounding them.

"Wow," gasped Bree. Skylar opened her eyes and looked down. They were surrounded by Lava, boiling, bright, bubbling lava, which steamed and hissed menacingly below them. The air down in this cave was much warmer them that in the prison, and Skylar could already feel herself beginning to sweat.

"Ready to change your minds, anyone?" asked Experion. Skylar turned and saw him and Scarlett standing against the far wall, watching over the proceedings.

"Don't bother," said Scarlett with a growl. "We know where their loyalties lie. We will let them all burn, and we will enjoy hearing their screams. Traitors are always the best."

Skylar felt someone brush against her arm, and she heard Chase whispering in her ear.

"Have any ideas? He asked. Skylar bit her lip. She did have one.

"Kaz and Oliver," she whispered quietly. "They can fly, but Scarlett won't know that. Get them to break the bars of the cage and fly us all out of here. I'll keep them talking."

Chase shuffled over to the other side of the cage and she could hear him passing the message to the others. Skylar turned to face their captors.

"I can't believe you would do this to all of us!" she exclaimed heatedly. "I didn't know your hatred of me could run this deep."

"Oh Skylar," said Scarlett sweetly. "We could never hate you. We just don't trust you, is all."

"Experion?" Pleaded Skylar, watching out of the corner of her eye as Kaz made his way to the edge of the cage. "Are you really going to let Scarlett kill me? I thought we were friends? More then, even."

"Oh Skylar, there was a time when I cared deeply for you, I'll admit it."

"What?" Skylar was shocked by this information. She saw Oliver tense from the corner of her eye at the news. She decided this was not the time to detangle past feelings. Or was it?

"You loved me, didn't you?" she asked, looking right at Experion. "I thought I loved you too. I thought we could have been more. But you never gave me the chance."

Experion looked too shocked for words, but Scarlett rolled her eyes.

"Don't try to make something out of nothing," she snapped. "whatever you felt for each other in the past is irrelevant now. You are all going to be burning crisps at the bottom of a volcano soon, so none of this matters anyway. And-"

Just then, she was cut off by Kaz and Oliver's excited screaming.

Skylar spun around to see what the commotion was about. The boys had managed to bust open the cage with their ice powers, and Kaz was already in the air, flying Bree to safety on the other side of the mountain.

"NOOOOO!" yelled Scarlett.

"Come on!" cried Chase.

There was a crunching sound. Skylar looked up. Scarlet had flung a power ball at the chains holding the cage, and they were about to break any minute. Skylar saw her readying another blast as she watched.

Skylar ran forward and grabbed Chase's hand just as the second blast hit. Chase grabbed onto Oliver and the three of them jumped just in time.

Oliver groaned with the effort of carrying the both of them. Kaz, seeing their predicament, flew out to help.

"Grab on to Oliver," said Chase. Without questioning it, Skylar reached up and grabbed Oliver tightly around the chest. Chase leapt away, but before either of them could do anything, Kaz had caught him and was flying him to the other side.

"Hold on tightly," said Oliver. "I'll get you there safely."

"I didn't mean any of it, you know," said Skylar quietly. "What I said to Experion. I never loved him."

"I know," said Oliver. He looked sad, but he tried to smile. "I know there's someone else in your feelings now."

Skylar looked up at him, confused, but Oliver was already looking across the way, where Kaz and Chase had gone.

"Chase and I are just friends," she said firmly.

"For now." Oliver smiled. "And it's okay. Really. You and I wouldn't have worked. I think it just took me awhile to realize it."

Skylar bent her head, choosing to look down at the bubbling lava rather then face Oliver's sincere look. She knew he was right, and she silently thanked him for his maturity.

The two of the landed safety on the other side in silence.

As they broke apart, Skylar gathered their surroundings. Chase, Bree, and Kaz had Scarlett and Experion backed onto the corner of the ledge. Just a few feet behind them was the dizzying fall into treacherous lava.

"You think you can take us?" yelled Scarlett. Her hair was matted a wild. She looked like she was going mad.

"Um, it looks like we are," said Kaz matter-of-factly.

"You weak, human, bionic excuses are no match for true power!" she flung a power blast at Chase and Bree. Chase managed to block it, but Bree crumbled to her knees.

"Bree!" exclaimed Skylar, hurrying forward.

Scarlett laughed. "Yes, Skylar! Come check on your new friends. They're all you care for now, isn't it?"

"I care for them," said Skylar evenly. 'Because they are my friends. You're out numbered, Scarlett. Give in. This fight is over."

"Oh no," panted Scarlett. "It's not over until I say it is."

"You can't take us all down," pointed out Chase.

"I don't care," said Scarlett. "I'll take as many of you down with me as I can."

She threw another powerball at Kaz and Oliver, but they ducked.

"No you won't," said Experion.

Scarlett started to turn to him. "What are you-" but she was cut off as Experion leapt forward and hugged her tightly from behind. He started to back up.

"What are you doing?" yelled Scarlett. "Get off of me! Now!"

At first Skylar didn't know what he was doing, but then, all at once, she understood.

"Experion!" she cried. She didn't know what else to say. Inches from the edge, Experion turned back to look at her.

"I love you Skylar, and I always will," he vowed. "Keep Earth safe."

And he jumped. The two of them were suspended in air for a moment, Scarlett fighting viciously to get away, Experion holding her tightly, his eyes closed in peaceful acceptance.

Then, they both fell, out of sight, into the lava below.

"Wow," gasped Kaz. "That guy always had style."

"I can't believe he saved us," whispered Oliver.

"Me neither," said Skylar, her head still shaking with the shock of it.

"Come on guys," said Chase. "We need to get Bree home."


	12. Chapter 12

The city was dark when the team landed back on the roof of the penthouse, transported there thanks to Kaz's wormhole transporter.

"Chase, do you think Bree needs to go down to the lab?" asked Kaz. He was supporting Bree's shoulders, while Oliver was carrying her feet.

Chase looked down at his sister. She seemed to be peacefully asleep.

"I don't think so," he said. "It doesn't seem like a serious medical condition; if I'm right, then Scarlett's power blast was just a surge of energy meant to stun, not directly injure. Take her to her room and I'll bring up a machine to monitor her vitals."

"And maybe call Davenport," said Kaz and he and Oliver made their way into the penthouse. "Although I totally trust your opinion, man, it might be nice to have a adult's say on weather our friend is going to live or not."

"Of course, I will." said Chase. "But I am certain that Bree will be feeling better in a couple of hours."

Kaz and Oliver nodded and continued across the living room, heading up to the second floor, where Skylar and Bree slept.

Chase made to follow them, but Skylar put out a hand to stop him. She felt they needed to talk.

"I'm sorry about the lies," she said, as Chase turned to face her. "And I'm sorry for getting you and your siblings mixed up in that mess. I never meant to hurt anyone."

Chase sighed, running a hand through his spiky hair. When he did that, he reminded her of the crazy mad-scientist her father had taken her to see all those years ago. Of course, that was a long time ago, and Chase was nothing like his uncle. From what she heard, Douglas was nothing like his old self anymore, either.

"I forgive you," said Chase at last. "I know you didn't have much of a choice, and I know you're a good person at heart."

Skylar nodded. "Thank-you," she whispered.

'"You'll have to tell the others about this, though," said Chase. "We're a team, and teams don't keep secrets from each other."

"Of course," said Skylar, nodding. "As soon as Bree is awake, we'll have a meeting and I will tell them about….about me." She bit her lip. She hoped the others would be as forgiving as Chase; she wasn't sure though. She was the reason Bree had almost lost one of her brothers. Something like that wasn't easy to forgive.

Seeming to sense her worry, Chase softened. He reached for her and pulled her tightly into a hug.

"They'll forgive you," he whispered into her hair, stroking her back gently. "We're a team, and teams also forgive each other's mistakes and move on. It might be hard at first, but I know them, and I know Bree. Everything will be fine."

Skylar nodded into Chase's shirt, taking deep, calming breaths. His words as well as his presence went great lengths to comfort her.

Chase held her for another moment. Then, thinking it over, he kissed her lightly on the head. Then, he turned to go.

Skylar shivered after he left, both from the chills his kiss sent through her and the wind she could now feel on her arms without his close embrace.

She looked out over the stars of the sleeping city, and she felt in that moment, that finally, she had the family that she had always wanted, and that everything was going to be okay.

/

As Chase had predicted, Bree awoke a few hours later, feeling a little sore and worn, but otherwise completely healthy. Mr. Davenport came to check on her, and shooed all the others out of her bedroom so they could talk. When he emerged, he assured the others that she was in fine condition, but she needed to rest.

"I think it'd be best if she rested now, so try to keep your visiting to a minimum," he said. "But I am certain that she is going to be just fine."

The others breathed a sigh of relief.

Kaz made his way up to the inventor. "Um, Mr. Davenport, sir?"

"Yes Kaz?"

"Would it be okay if I go see her, just for a minute? I promise I'll be quick and won't wear her out."

"Yes of course, go right ahead. She's awake now, just don't stay too long." 

"Thank-you," Kaz smiled as he left the others to discuss Bree's condition with her father.

Kaz made his way up to Bree's bedroom, and tapped lightly on her door.

"Come in!" called Bree.

Kaz opened the door and found Bree lying on a small sitting couch, wrapped in a blanket. This was such an oddity for him, because every time he usually saw her resting-when Oliver and him were pulling pranks on people in the night-she was standing in her capsule. But she looked just as comfortable and relaxed when she was lounging horizontally.

"Kaz!" she exclaimed, her face lighting up. "Come take a seat."

Kaz crossed the room and sat beside her. Bree raised herself so she was propped up on the pillows behind her.

"Thanks for coming to see me," she said. "Mr. Davenport says I need to rest some more, but it's actually rather boring up here without company."

Kaz smiled. "You'll be out of here in no time," he promised. "Apparently the blast wasn't too bad for your system. How are you feeling?"

"No bad," said Bree, grinning. "Ready to go track down Roman and Riker and make them pay; they should be easier to get now that their little leaders are gone."

"Whoa whoa, slow down there," laughed Kaz. "They'll be plenty of time for that once you're one-hundred percent better. I have a feeling those two won't be causing any trouble without Scarlett to order them around."

Bree smiled. Her smile was hypnotizing. Kaz felt himself drawing closer to her.

"Kaz?" asked Bree, her voice a light whisper.

"Yes?"

"Do you want to kiss me?"

Kaz grinned sheepishly. "I do."

"Then, why don't you?"

"I was just thinking that."

Without another word, Kaz closed the space between them, pressing his lips passionately against Bree's.

Bree responded instantly to his touch, moving her lips perfectly in synch with his. Kaz was careful not to hurt her as the two deepened their kiss. He lightly held her waist in one hand, and brushed his other hand through her hair. He could feel the heat between them intensify, and any thoughts of cutting his visit short to give Bree time alone were promptly driven from his mind.

A loud knocking on the bedroom door interrupted the two.

"Kaz!" called Oliver. "Chase says to leave Bree alone so she can rest. You'll wear her out if you try to talk too much before she's ready." Then he left. They could hear his footsteps following the hall back to the kitchen.

"Right," said Kaz, winking at Bree. "Is our talking session wearing you out?"

"Oh you," laughed Bree, panting slightly. "I feel fine enough to continue our 'talking'."

Kaz laughed, but he detangled himself Bree's arms and stood. "I'm sure you do, but you won't get anymore talking from me today."

"Why not?" pouted Bree. "I told you it's boring up here alone."

"Yes, but you need to rest." Kaz grinned. "But don't worry. I look forward to many, long, uninterrupted talks with you once you're all better."

Bree smiled. "Okay then," she said. "I guess I'd better start resting up then."

"I would advise that," said Kaz. Then he gave her one last smile and made his way out of her bedroom, as definite spring accenting his step.

\\\\\\\\\

A/N- So I got the idea for this story a bit ago, and I started writing it _before_ S-1 decided to show back up in the show as Taylor. I guess that makes my story a serious AU now instead of a fan theory. XD Anyway, I just now finished it and I am really happy with it. I ship Chase and Skylar a bit, but I _really_ ship Kaz and Bree; I think they're just such a cute couple!

Anyway, if you liked this story and would like to tell me or other potential readers what you think, please leave me a review! Also, if you have any questions about the story or just want to talk, send me a DM!

I think Elite Force was one of the better shows on Disney XD, and I was sad to hear they hadn't renewed it for a second season. But, at any rate, it was a good show while it lasted, and I am excited to continue to help the show and characters grow by reading and writing fanficiton for it! That's what we're here for anyway, right? So I hope you all enjoyed and have a wonderful day! Catch ya later!

-Kim


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